The DA is accusing Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi of concealing corruption.
The DA in Gauteng says it will report Premier Panyaza Lesufi to the Public Protector for allegedly concealing reports on corrupt activities in the province.
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DA Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga said on Tuesday that there are over 100 reports that have been concealed and not released to the public.
Msimanga said the DA would exhaust all avenues to make the reports public, including approaching the president and Public Protector.
“We will also approach the president to ensure we unleash the Hawks to do a full investigation on the reports. We will not hesitate to take this matter to court if we can,” Msimanga said.
Investigation into Gauteng departments
He said the DA would also write to the Auditor General (AG) to investigate certain Gauteng departments.
“There is a certain criteria that the AG looks at, or does, when they do audits. We are now going to be making certain information available to then say; ‘perhaps you did not look at this when you were auditing certain departments.’”
Lesufi’s spokesperson Sizwe Pamla told The Citizen the DA should approach the relevant institutions if they have any evidence of wrongdoing.
“They are supposed to approach the relevant democratic institutions,” he said.
Pamla said he believed that the Premier was being targeted by “anti-progressive” groups.
Who is Panyaza protecting?
Msimanga said Lesufi should make the reports public as part of clean governance and good practice.
“Running a clean government means you need to expose corruption. It means that even the politicians implicated are investigated thoroughly. We need to ensure that charges are laid against them,” Msimanga said.
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According to the DA, some of the squashed reports contain evidence of massive corruption at the Gauteng Department of Social Development.
The alleged corruption included the procurement of sanitary pads and school uniforms for poor learners. There were also allegations that money supposed to be spent on certain projects had disappeared.
“Corrupt activities in this province take away money from the service delivery, putting the needs of the residents on a backfoot,” he said.
Msimanga said Lesufi had also promised to make public lifestyle audits for executive members of the province and some officials.
He said some officials who were caught had been suspended but were now back at work.
